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Wednesdays are a madhouse at Bibb County's animal shelter, with rescuers desperately trying to get dogs and cats to safety while, in a back room, preparations are made to kill dogs and cats.

Yesterday, rescuers picked up three male dogs they had "holds" on: Hydro, Nitro and Tugger.

Or so they thought.

Late last night, donors who had helped pay for the cost of rescuing and vetting the dogs were notified that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Hydro had no ID collar at all, and the number on Tugger wasn't the one rescuers expected. Fortunately, they were able to positively identify Tugger and Hydro.

Nitro, however, is another story. The dog they were given as Nitro isn't him. In fact, it isn't even a "him," according to rescuer Debi Morford Kirkland. The dog they were given as Nitro is a female. As if that isn't confusing enough, that dog is wearing the ID number of a dog who was killed at the shelter on July 5.

Several dogs labeled aggressive to other animals, humans, or both, along with one dog that may have mange (a treatable skin condition) and one who the shelter director described as going "kennel crazy" are scheduled to die Wednesday at the Bibb County animal shelter.

While an aggressive dog can be potentially dangerous, someone with experience at handling dogs with these behaviors, especially pitbulls and pitbull mixes, may be able to work with the dogs to resolve the problem. The tentative list for Wednesday's kill was put out last night, and those interested in possibly rescuing or adopting a problem dog are asked to go to the shelter and visit with the dog before making any decision.

At 10:15 Sunday morning, Kelli Hartsfield posted a plea for help on AC Pup’s Facebook page. She had been on her way to church when she found an emaciated dog in the road in Lake Wildwood.

“He was looking down and not even moving for cars,” she said. “I honked the horn and he then moved to the side of the road.”

Hartsfield parked her car and called to the dog. “He came to me with his tail wagging. I petted him and went to knock on the people’s door to see if they had seen him before. They had not but I asked them if I could possibly put him in their pen in the back because it was not being used. They said of course and got a bowl of water and food and took it to the pen.”

Before they penned the dog, however, a skinny female dog running uninvited with a jogger showed up, and the black dog ran to her. It was obvious the dogs knew one another, Hartsfield said. She snapped photos of the dogs.

Bibb County animal shelter is bursting at the seams, and a mass killing is already planned for Wednesday to make room.

Many perfectly good puppies, kittens, dogs and cats will go out with the trash Wednesday afternoon unless county residents come through to save them as they've done before.

In early June, when the shelter was set to close for fumigation, residents in the Macon area, along with rescuers and fosters, answered the call to save every life. Not one of the nearly 100 adoptable animals at the shelter was euthanized.

July 5, 15 dogs and puppies were killed because the shelter had more than the number of animals the temporary director wants at the shelter. The number set to be killed this Wednesday is much higher - more than 20 at last report, and possibly

For the past nine weeks, Macon Animal Control has not killed a single adoptable animal, thanks mainly to the continued efforts of local rescue groups.

Adoptions since the shelter reopened earlier in June have been disappointingly low, especially considering how well the community stepped up to help clear out the shelter before the fumigation.

The shelter is now "home" for more than 80 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, and they are all in danger. Animals at municipal shelters are always in danger of being killed when the shelter runs out of room, and MAC is nearly there.

Although many municipal shelters kill every animal just before a holiday, there is no indication so far that anything this draconian is planned at MAC. However, since the shelter will almost certainly be at or above legal capacity before the July 4 holiday, the weeks of no killing are about to come to a tragic end.